SEVEN ?s WITH TAEKO

TAEKO SINGS WEDNESDAY MAY 16 AT THE HYATT

NBJP: What’s the worst job you ever had?

T: Real estate broker inNew York.

NBJP: Who’s your favorite jazz performer?

T: Betty Carter

NBJP: What inspires you creatively?

T: Working out

NBJP: If you could only own one CD, what would it be?

T: “Audience with Betty Carter”

NBJP: What’s one liquid (other than water) we’d ALWAYS find in your refrigerator?

T: Milk

NBJP: Who’s your favorite singer?

T: Patty Austin

NBJP: What word or phrase do you overuse?

T: “Are you sure?”

PLUS ONE: When did you know you wanted to be a jazz musician?

T: When I first leftNew York City in fall of 1998 after staying for 6 months

SEVEN ?s with Anthony Ware

ANTHONY WARE PERFORMS THURSDAY MAY 10, 2012 @ MAKEDA 

NBJP: What living musician has influenced you most?

AW: That’s a hard question to answer.  I have a long list of mentors whose guidance has been irreplaceable to me.  The top three are Anthony Nelson, Bruce Williams and Radam Schwartz.

NBJP: What would you want to be if you weren’t a jazz musician?

AW: I’d like to think I would have either become a visual artist or a computer engineer.

NBJP: What is your greatest fear?

AW:  Others knowing more about me than myself.  That or the Knicks never win another championship.

NBJP: What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?

AW: McDonald’s fish sandwich.

NBJP: Dogs, cats or other?

AW:  I think pets and I have agreed that we’re not good together.  I once had two turtles… one ran away.

NBJP: Who’s your favorite non-jazz composer?

AW: Stevie Wonder hands down.

NBJP: What instrument would you  like to be able to play?

AW: upright bass.

PLUS ONE: When did you know you wanted to be a jazz musician?

AW: In the winter of 1997 I was invited to a jazz workshop by my good friend Irwin Hall.  There I met Radam Schwartz, Anthony Nelson, Bruce Williams and a host of other young aspiring musicians that sounded great. That day I knew I needed the music.

Seven ?s with Rachel Eckroth

Rachel performed for NBJP April 19 at Makeda

 

NBJP: Other than the instrument you play, what’s your favorite instrument to listen to?

RE: I am in love with the cello. It’s such a warm instrument, but I wish I could play the bass.

NBJP: What’s the worst job you ever had?

RE: When I first moved to the New York area, I worked at a store in the mall.  I’m not really a customer service type person.

NBJP:   If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

RE:  My dream is to visit Tahiti, so maybe there.

NBJP:  Who’s your favorite non-jazz composer?

RE:  Astor Piazzolla is one of my favorites – innovator of modern tango.

NBJP: What’s the last book you read?

RE: A cookbook.

NBJP: What’s your favorite (“G” rated!) guilty pleasure?

RE:  I love to travel.  I am a huge fan of seeing new places, cultures, and would love to do that all the time.

NBJP:  What musician do you believe has influenced you the most? (so far)

RE:: I connect to all of the different incarnations of Miles Davis’ musical contributions the most, so I’d have to say Miles.

PLUS ONE: When did you know? (That you wanted to be a jazz musician)

RE:When I was 15. 

Seven ?s with Brandon Wright

Brandon performs Wednesday April 18 at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick

NBJP:      How old were you when you first played in front of an audience (beyond your family)?

BW:  I was fourteen years old and performed “The Pink Panther” theme for a talent show at summer camp.  Although I left the stage, I was told I got a standing ovation!

 NBJP: What’s your favorite jazz tune?

BW:  I’ve never been one to name a single favorite tune, but I love performing compositions by Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Cedar Walton, Benny Golson, and Chick Corea.

NBJP: You are a musician, is there another art in which you’d like to be accomplished?

BW:  Lately, I’ve been exploring the craft of acting and Improv Comedy.  There are a lot of parallels between the two, and although I’m not sure how far I want to take things as an actor, I’ve gained some valuable skills that have made me a a better person and musician.

NBJP: What’s your favorite non-musical pastime?

BW:  Snowboarding is a huge passion of mine.  Don’t worry, I wear a helmet and wrist guards.

NBJP: What’s the worst job you ever had?

BW:  Probably the first job I ever had.  I was fifteen and took a job making drink orders (non-alcoholic) at a local breakfast/lunch spot in Long Beach Island.  Minimum wage was 5.25/hr back then, and my hours were so unpredictable.  Although they made great pancakes, the place was poorly run.

NBJP: If you could live anywhere in the world where would that be?

BW  I’ve been fortunate to travel all over the world, and New York City is still the place I can’t wait to get back to.  Maybe one day I’ll live a bicoastal life, but for now, I love where I live.

NBJP: Finish this sentence -   I own too many

BW: …articles of clothing from Express.

PLUS ONE: When did you know that you wanted to be a professional jazz musician?

BW:  When I was sixteen, my parents took me to hear my teacher, Walt Weiskopf, perform with his sextet at Smalls Jazz Club. It was the first time I heard jazz performed live and I thought what I heard was magic.  I had no idea what they were doing, but I was determined from that day on I’d do my best to figure it out.  I haven’t looked back since.

SEVEN ?s with Kenny Davis

KENNY PERFORMS THURSDAY APRIL 12 WITH RALPH BOWEN

NBJP: What’s the worst job you ever had?

KD:    Planting hedges around a Chicago Baptist Church (didn’t get paid)

NBJP: Who’s your favorite non-jazz composer?

KD:    Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis

NBJP: How old were you when you first played in front of an audience (beyond your family)?

KD:    13 years old

NBJP: If you could share one thing with a new musician what would it be?

KD:    Know how to save your money for your future

NBJP: What quality do you like most about yourself?

KD:    Don’t get stressed easily

NBJP: What other instrument would you like to be able to play?

KD:    Saxophone

NBJP: What’s a food we would ALWAYS find in your refrigerator?

KD:    A health drink

Seven ?s WITH JOE “MAGS” MAGNARELLI

JOE MAGS PERFORMED APRIL 4 AT THE HYATT

NBJP: What musician has influenced you most?

JM: Charlie Parker

NBJP: You are a trumpet player–is there another instrument you’d like to be able to play?

JM: Drums ( I do play piano, not as good as most people you know)

NBJP: What quality do you like most about yourself?

JM: I have, and will survive hard times.

NBJP: What liquid, aside from milk, water would we ALWAYS find in your fridge?

JM: Grape Juice

NBJP: What’s the worst job you ever had?

JM: Bagging groceries, after I graduated from college

NBJP: If you could only own one CD what would it be?

JM: Hard question! Earth Wind and Fire “That’s the Way of the World”

NBJP: What’s your favorite movie?

JM: Groundhog day

PLUS ONE: When did you know that you wanted to be a professional jazz musician?

JM: 22 yrs old, I wanted to be a musician at 6yrs old–but didn’t know about jazz then.

SEVEN ?s WITH EMILY ASHER

EMILY ASHER PERFORMS THURSDAY MARCH 30 AT MAKEDA

 

NBJP: What living musician has influenced you most?

EA: it’s a three-way tie, Nancy Wilson, Nicholas Payton and Wycliffe Gordon.

NBJP: What would you want to be if you weren’t a jazz musician?

EA: a fitness and nutrition coach or a 7th grade math teacher.  

NBJP: What is your greatest fear?

EA: Being attacked by a shark.  I still get nervous jumping in swimming pools in the dark!!

NBJP: What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?

EA: Popcorn and wine for dinner.

NBJP: Dogs, cats or other?

EA:  I love animals in general but I have two cats.  They’re sweet but kind of neurotic.  My geriatric orange cat, Simon, tends to get all worked up when I practice high-range singing and bite my leg or try to climb me like a tree.

NBJP: Who’s your favorite non-jazz composer?

EA: I love Chopin and Wagner mostly because I heard a lot of them as a child.  I often fell asleep as my dad played Chopin Nocturnes on the piano beneath my bedroom.   

NBJP: What instrument would you  like to be able to play?

EA: I’m currently working on tuba and enjoying it immensely.  Maybe in my next lifetime I’ll be a great pianist.  

PLUS ONE: When did you know you wanted to be a jazz musician?

EA: I had a crush on a senior, Tim Shimotakahara, at my high school when I was a freshman.  When I asked him what music he listened to and he said jazz, I decided right then and there that I was a jazz musician.  I think he went into finance… 

SEVEN ?s WITH CAMILLE THURMAN

Camille performed with the Badd Azz Jazz Women of Mimi Jones Band on Thursday, March 22 at Makeda

NBJP: What’s the worst job you ever had?

CT: To be quite honest, I don’t think I ever had a terrible job, fortunately. I always look at negative situations as “how can you make the most/best out of it?” and I just do it. I can say the most painstaking/tedious job I ever had was transcribing a big band chart from a recording by ear…all 18 parts. I didn’t sleep and stared at a computer for 2 days straight. I had never done a big band transcription before that but I finished it and it came out great.    

NBJP: Who’s your favorite jazz performer?

CT: Betty Carter. She could sing the newspaper to you and you would still be in awe. Her interpretation of melodies and her phrasing was just incomparable and unique.  In her performances she had command, strength, finesse and executed her performances with such confidence and freedom. She could just draw you in instantly. 

NBJP: What inspires you creatively?

CT: Life experiences, childhood memories, society, nature…any and every kind of  interaction with the environment/people around me inspires me creatively. That’s how it was for many of the greats; Charles Mingus, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone. Their canvas was the society that lived around them. Their music was a way for them to show everyone their view of the world, through their eyes; being an inspiration/ positive & reflective thinker and innovator to society. I hope and aspire to do the same. 

NBJP: If you could only own one CD, what would it be?

CT: Oh man, this is a toughy…I would have to say Blues and the Abstract Truth. I love Oliver Nelson’s compositions and arrangements. All of the tunes and players on that album were killin’ and swingin’. The concept of the whole album was around the blues. You can never get enough of the blues. 

NBJP: What’s one liquid (other than water) we’d ALWAYS find in your refrigerator?

CT: Plum wine. It’s my favorite wine and it’s purple  (my favorite color) …well some varieties are purple.

NBJP: Who’s your favorite singer?

CT: Sarah Vaughan, hands down. She had the voice of an angel, but I do check out other singers in other genres. I would say Chaka Kahn. She’s powerful and fierce. I grew up hearing her played in my house as a kid. Her and Sarah’s voice range was so wide, they could do anything. I would spend hours as a kid jumping on my bed in front of the mirror belting out their high and low notes. 

NBJP: What word or phrase do you overuse?

CT: “Killin’ ” aka awesomeness.

PLUS ONE: When did you know you wanted to be a jazz musician?

CT: When I first heard Dexter Gordon’s “GO” album in my jazz listening camp class. I was 14 and I heard him playing over “Second Balcony Jump”. His sound was so full, big and rich…you could instantly know who that was just from hearing one note. His freedom and creativity with his lines just inspired me to learn the language. It was swingin’ so hard, you just couldn’t deny it. It was as if he was soaring high when he played and I wanted to do that too. 

SEVEN?s WITH SHAREL CASSITY

Sharel performs Thursday March 15 at Makeda

NBJP: Other than the instrument you play, what instrument would you like to be able to play?

SC: I always wanted to play the acoustic bass. Maybe that’s why I like to write for it so much, a way of living vicariously though bass players. However, now that we have one I don’t even touch it–I can’t keep up with the other eight instruments I play. 

NBJP: What’s the worst job you ever had?

SC: Any job that included cleaning a public restroom.  

NBJP:   Finish this sentence: I have too many__bills. 

NBJP:  Who’s your favorite non-jazz composer?

SC: [Alexander Nikolayevich]Scriabin

NBJP: What’s the last movie you saw and loved?

SC: Hmmm… not sure, since I usually fall asleep in them. But, I did manage to stay awake and enjoy True Grit , The Help and Star Trek recently. That might be a record. 

NBJP: What’s your favorite (“G” rated!) guilty pleasure?

SC: Dark chocolate and shoe appreciation. Not usually at the same time, but it could happen. 

NBJP:  What living musician do you believe has influenced you the most?

SC: Jimmy Heath

PLUS ONE: When did you know? (That you wanted to be a jazz musician)?

When I was 11, I told my first saxophone teacher that I wanted to be a jazz saxophonist for the rest of my life. Thinking this might not be the best thing to encourage for a young girl, he laughed and replied “so… you want to practice hard your whole life, live on a bus, bathe in public restrooms and wear polyester uniforms just to play the saxophone for a living?” To which I hastily replied “Yes!!” Oddly it sounded fantastic, which I don’t believe was the intention.  

SEVEN ?s WITH AKIKO TSURUGA

Akiko  performs Wednesday March 14 at the Hyatt New Brunswick

 NBJP: Other than the instrument you play (organ), what’s your favorite instrument to listen to?

AT: Everything

NBJP: What’s the worst job you ever had?

AT: Nothing

NBJP:   If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

AT:I love the United States and Japan so I’ve never thought about living in another country.

NBJP:  Who’s your favorite non-jazz composer?

AT: Burt Bacharach & Bach, 

NBJP: What’s the last book you read?

AT: Japanese comic

NBJP: What’s your favorite (“G” rated!) guilty pleasure?

AT:_________________________ (no answer!) Maybe she doesn’t have one???!

NBJP:  What musician do you believe has influenced you the most?

AT: Dr. Lonnie Smith

PLUS ONE: When did you know? (That you wanted to be a jazz musician)

When I was 22 years old.